Heart of David

By,

Chris Thomas

In today’s Homeland Defense model, a close parallel can be drawn between the battle of David and Goliath and the United States’ homeland defense efforts.

The first book of Samuel, chapter 17, tells the story of David and Goliath. To quickly summarize the story, the armies of the Philistines and Israel were at odds. The Philistine armies camped in Ephres-damim, which belonged to Judah. The Israeli armies camped in the valley of Elah. As they prepared for battle, the Philistine army sent forth a champion from Gath known as Goliath. Goliath was a very accomplished warrior towering over nine feet tall. He was clad in heavy armor, and armed with a mighty sword and a javelin. He struck great fear in the Israelites. He defiantly challenged the Israeli army to send their mightiest warrior forward to fight. Goliath’s challenge stated if he were to lose the fight, the Philistines would surrender and become slaves to Israel. If the Israelites were to lose, they would become slaves of the Philistines. The Israelites became more afraid. This challenge continued for forty days straight. No Israeli warrior accepted the challenge.

After the forty days, a shepherd named David, the son of Jesse, delivered supplies to the Israelite camp. The Israelite army was gathered in its battle array. David delivered his supplies to his brothers as Goliath, once again, delivered his defiant challenge to the Israelites. David, who was a teenager at the time, accepted the challenge, knowing God would guide him and protect him. Israel’s king, Saul, clothed David in his own armor and armed him with his own sword. David, being so young, was unable to fight in the heavy armor, so he took it off. David armed himself with a stick, a sling, and five smooth stones. Goliath, who was dripping in arrogance and overconfidence, mocked David. David stood tall and told Goliath God would deliver him into David’s hands. As Goliath approached, David struck him down with a sling and stone. David then killed Goliath with Goliath’s own sword.

How does this story translate into today’s Homeland Defense environment? David had a number of factors which were in his favor so strongly, he had an unfair advantage. Goliath was a mighty and arrogant warrior. David had the blessings of God. He had the faith of a child. David had the heart and courage of a lion.

The Goliath Principle:  A mighty giant can be ineffective in an asymmetric battle.

Goliath was a mighty human giant. He towered over nine feet tall. He was a strong and experienced champion warrior. For an Israelite soldier to fight him in a symmetrical fight, might for might, the Israelite soldier would surely be slaughtered. However, Goliath’s disadvantages were significant when it came to fighting David.

First, Goliath was very large and mighty. While this perceived advantage intimidated his opponents, it also made him slow and cumbersome. A smaller-statured warrior was more agile and had more endurance.   While Goliath had an incredible amount of might, he was unable to quickly change direction or momentum. Partly due to his inability to quickly adapt, defend, and counterstrike, Goliath was defeated by a faithful child who was quick-witted, nimble and struck with surgical precision.

The current Homeland Security machine is very large and unwieldy. The top-heavy bureaucratic nature of a bloated government umbrella agency can be detrimental to the effectiveness of the mission. Currently, rapid or nonconventional decision making, change in direction, change in mission, and adaptability are slow and bureaucratic. While compartmentalizing sensitive information protects the information and its sources, it can also defeat the mission. The enemy knows this fact and capitalizes cunningly. Make no mistake, the vast majority of personnel defending the homeland are highly gifted and dedicated individuals. They have tremendous dedication to their mission and the homeland. The disadvantage stems from the systemic design and practical application of that design of the Homeland Security mechanism. This mighty machine is slow, predictable, and cumbersome.

Second, Goliath was arrogant and overconfident. Goliath openly and repeatedly challenged his opponent with arrogance. His arrogance bred his overconfidence. His own defeat was never a possibility in his mind. Because of this overconfidence, he failed to properly prepare for, and execute his defense and counterstrike. Goliath failed to see his own vulnerabilities. This was his undoing.

There is a profound difference between confidence and overconfidence. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines confidence as, (1a)”a feeling or consciousness of one’s powers or of reliance on one’s circumstances.”   On face value, this definition implies certain humility. A consciousness of one’s powers requires a consciousness of one’s limitations. In conflict, having a realization of one’s limitations is every bit as important as the realization of one’s powers or abilities. If Goliath entered the battle knowing his vulnerabilities, the entire course of history could have turned out dramatically differently.

How would today’s geopolitical environment be different if David had not applied his lion’s heart to his faith in God and defeated Goliath? David, a teenager, saw Goliath holding a mighty army at bay. Soldiers saw Goliath through the eyes of conventional warriors. David knew he would never win a battle of strength with Goliath. He had absolute faith that God put him there to defeat Goliath. He assessed his strengths and weaknesses. He assessed Goliath’s strengths and weaknesses. He quickly devised a strategy based on those assessments and fought Goliath asymmetrically.

There were no politics, politicians, news releases, or the sort involved. Assess, adapt, attack. In hindsight, David was clearly advantaged over Goliath. He had overcome the Goliath Principle. He was able to quickly assess Goliath’s skill set, adapt to the situation, and attack the problem at hand.

David’s Bull’s-eye:  He knew in his heart he was the right person for the job.

David was a boy of great faith. He was a young shepherd who had successfully defended his flock from a lion and a bear. He knew in his soul he would be victorious over Goliath. He knew he was chosen for this task by God. There was no question of this appointment in his mind. He knew where his strengths and weaknesses were. He was put in a position which would test him dead center in the bull’s-eye of his strengths. David changed the world forever because he faithfully acted in the center of this bull’s-eye.

Imagine each person as a bull’s-eye. The center of the bull’s-eye is your absolute greatest strengths and talents. You can operate within your bull’s-eye with absolute competence and confidence. You feel centered and confident inside your bull’s-eye. You were created for whatever lies inside your bull’s-eye. Now move out a ring- you are a little less comfortable, a little less competent, and a little less confident. Continue on towards the fringes of the bull’s-eye. In this area, you are uncomfortable, unconfident, and abundantly stressed. You should not be operating in this area unless absolutely necessary.

Examine the current Homeland Security model through the paradigm of David’s bull’s-eye. There exists a Goliath umbrella organization with a number of subsidiary compartmentalized organizations underneath. Each subsidiary organization has to compete for their “Credit” to keep their funding or political favor. Each subsidiary organization does not necessarily work in cooperation with other subsidiary organizations. This compromises the mission, compromises the integrity of the organization, and compromises the defense of the homeland.

We need to re-examine how we approach the mission. First and foremost, we have to examine an individual to see where they are meant to be. We have seen countless political appointments, nepotistic appointments, and the like.   They rarely turn out to be successful in terms of the mission put forth. The routine practice of appointing personnel to positions due to favor, seniority, or due to productivity in other fields will bring about the failure of an organization and the mission.

To be successful in our mission, we have to seek out true leaders, not charismatic politicians, and put them in leadership positions. True leadership is paramount to success. We must appoint personnel to positions which lay inside their individual bulls eyes. The task is irrelevant. If an individual’s bull’s-eye is centered on grounds maintenance, put that person there and embrace their talents. If another individual’s bull’s-eye is working intelligence or operations, than put that person inside that field. If someone’s bull’s-eye is mission minded leadership, not political minded leadership, put that person in leadership. Until we recognize this simple concept and implement it, we will not be effective at our mission.

The quicker we depoliticize Homeland Defense, the more effective we will be. Putting all the right people in all the right positions will be a giant leap in that direction.

Solution:  Change back into a David force.

The United States founded itself as a David force. Slowly over time, the United States has grown larger, grown mightier, more bureaucratic, and unwieldy. The tides have turned to where the United States has become Goliath force and today’s terrorist organizations have become David forces. We have disadvantaged ourselves through our own might. The fact we are a mighty force is not detrimental. In fact, it is a terrific advantage over our enemies. The Goliath mentality we operate with is the problem.

The U.S. military is staffed with the brightest minds and the best warriors ever seen on the earth. We have the best weaponry and the best technology ever deployed on a battlefield. We have the most committed and patriotic soldiers we could ask for. However, we have an uncommitted Commander in Chief and an even less committed legislature, resulting from an apathetic voting body. The cause of this leadership disengagement stems directly from the political environment they have created. We have appointed and elected high ranking people, most of which are unquestionably brilliant individuals, who are nowhere near the center of their bull’s-eyes. In many cases these individuals are in their positions as a result of political favor or political alignment. The inappropriate placement of these individuals has politicized our defending the homeland to the point that our future is compromised.

           From domestic operations down to local level law enforcement, we are reactive, predictable, “politically correct”, and ineffective.   Intelligence and information is not shared between agencies for political reasons and personal gain. This is due to senior leadership perpetuating the Goliath principle as well as not putting the right bull’s-eyes on the right targets. Mission minded Davids have to lead the charge. Politically minded Goliaths need to sit on the sidelines and re-examine their bull’s-eyes. The simplest solution for an incredibly complex task is as follows:

Find our Bulls eye:  Mission before man

The overbearing weight of bureaucratic baggage has adversely impacted homeland defense.   The simplest concept put into action will self correct the vast majority of the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the homeland defense effort. Find our bull’s-eyes. Starting from an individual level and working up to a systemic level, select the right individuals for the right task for the right reasons.

As previously mentioned, each individual has a bull’s-eye. Their ideal skill and task sets lie within the bull’s-eye. As the concentric circles lie further away from center, so do the skills. When a team has all its membership inside their individual bull’s-eyes, the team is on its bull’s-eye. This becomes a force multiplier, exponentially increasing its effectiveness. When an agency is on its bull’s-eye, it increases morale, efficiency, productivity, and creativity. When senior leadership is in its bull’s-eye, the right decisions are made, for the right reasons, in the interest of defending the homeland. Mission minded day to day operations become far more effective. Bureaucratic bloat will be greatly reduced.

Within the Bulls eye paradigm, the swift and severe intolerance for ego driven individualism is paramount. If members from the line staff to administration level engage in egocentric behavior, this will poison the entire system. This behavior needs to be addressed swiftly and punished severely. This acts as a cancer in terms of morale, productivity and effectiveness.

David’s Heart:  Faithful obedience, fighting like the underdog.

David obediently entered his battle with Goliath with an absolute faith in what his appointment was. He knew in his soul God created him to be in that place at that moment in time. He knew God put him in the position to battle Goliath, and that he was operating in the middle of his bull’s-eye. He had an absolute confidence in his mission. In a moment, David changed the course of humanity because of knowing his bull’s-eye, recognizing an opportunity, and taking decisive “unconventional” action to accomplish his mission.

There are appropriate contexts to conduct operations through a “conventional” framework. However, a true David force can operate inside and outside of conventional framework. A David force can effectively examine a task in a three dimensional view, demanding nonconventional solutions. A David force can examine the conventions of an opponent, and rapidly change directions accordingly. A David force is not encumbered by bureaucracy, politics, press conferences, and organizational charts.

June 5th, 1989, the world watched live television coverage of mass protests in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China. One image which will forever be remembered is that of an individual known as “Tank Man.” A single protester had his David moment. He stood in front of a row of tanks advancing into the square to be deployed on a crowd of civilians. Each time the tank attempted to go around the man, he moved side to side, preventing the passage of the tank.   A single unarmed, small statured man stopped the Chinese military from advancing for several moments. While militarily this moment was insignificant, this move was strategic genius. This action unified the protesters, distracted their opponents, and showed the whole world the level of desperation the Chinese people were experiencing. This moment exposed the world to human rights atrocities committed by the Chinese government. This moment, a single desperate individual found his bull’s-eye and acted on it with the courage of a lion. He acted unconventionally, decisively, and courageously.

Put simply- create a David force to defend the homeland. Eliminate the existing Goliath bureaucracy “governing” the process. Implement bulls eye centered, mission minded leadership to lead the process from the front. Eliminate egocentric “press conference bureaucrats.” Develop an environment where the mission comes before the ego. Eliminate conventional thinking. Encourage unconventional solutions. Fight this war like the underdog. Fight this war like a David force.

The framers set forth a framework for us to use as cornerstones for this great nation in which we live. We, as a nation, are slowly giving away the cornerstones in an attempt to protect what is inside the building. We have to preserve what is left of our Constitution. By transitioning to a David force, we will go back to fighting like we are the underdog. The underdog is almost invariably more committed, more creative, and more effective pound for pound. This is because of the agility, non-convention, and courage required to enter a battle when you are expected to lose.

Conclusion:  Complex problems, simple solutions.

In today’s homeland defense environment, there are a myriad of complexities ranging from street level law enforcement to operating covertly within the allowances of the U.S. Constitution, from intelligence to operations, from administration to the general public. A solution to one of the most complex problems our nation has ever faced is summed up in a short but very important story from the book of Samuel. David had already identified his bull’s-eye. When Goliath was presented to him, he recognized an opportunity, quickly assessed the situation, courageously acted, and brought forward a solution blessed by God. He fought unconventionally, without bureaucracy, with humility and with absolute confidence. He fought as the underdog through Goliath’s eyes, but as a sure winner through God’s eyes. David was working inside his bull’s-eye. Goliath fought conventionally with overconfidence and arrogance. He lost a battle for his people because of his “Goliath” attitude.

If the basic principles of the story of David and Goliath are implemented into homeland defense, the world will be forever changed for the better. If homeland defense made itself a David force, that would result in enemies being made into Goliath forces. We owe this to all those who have made sacrifices to defend the homeland. We owe this to the framers of this nation. We owe this to future generations of Americans.